Teachings of the Catholic Church - Questions     

Hannes Stein, “Return of the Gods”

1. In Ratzinger’s book, he talks about creation as the ultimate “enlightenment” of history.  Lynn White, in his article in Science magazine, speaks of the “de-mythologization” of nature.  Hannes Stein, finally, speaks in terms of a “demystification of the heavens” which entailed a “radical disenchantment of the world.”  Explain what all three of them are talking about.

2. According to Stein, how did the followers of H.P. Blavatsky recognize each other?

3. Stein’s article mentions the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.  Though Stein does not mention this fact, it was Nietzsche who came up with the notion of the übermensch (the “super-man”).  Stein also mentions the neo-paganism of Blavatsky, van List, and von Liebenfels, which “promised a new era of German world domination under the leadership of wise pagan priests – an empire of light, inhabited by noblemen, which would be cleansed of all Judeo-Christian influence.”  Thirdly, he mentions the prophetic The History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany by Heinrich Heine, from which he quotes the passage: “...and once the taming talisman – the cross – bursts asunder, the wildness of the ancient warriors of which the Norse poets have so much to say will shoot up again.  This talisman is fragile, and the day will come when it will collapse miserably.  Then the ancient stony gods will rise from the forgotten debris and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes, and finally Thor with his giant hammer will jump up and smash the Gothic cathedrals.”  Finally, he mentions Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect who helped design the famous rally at Nuremberg, which was self-consciously set up with vertical spot lights to make it look as though the participants were in the midst of a cathedral of ice.  It was Speer who made reference to Richard Wagner’s famous opera, the Gotterdämmerung, the “Twilight of the Gods.”  There is an implicit thesis here.  Where, in Stein’s view, is all this heading?  What historically is the culmination of these cultural forces?

4. According to Hermann Rauschning, one of Hitler’s close associates, what was Hitler’s attitude toward the Ten Commandments?

5. Toward the end of his article, Stein seems to stake out a rather negative view of what he considers the “neo-paganism” of the contemporary environmental movement (among other contemporary movements).  Let me ask the same question I asked on the Ratzinger questions about Christianity and the environmental crisis: Is there some Christian response to the charge that Christianity is largely to blame for the current environmental crisis?  Do Ratzinger and Pieper in particular stake out a position that is helpful in this regard?
 

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